Why are we moving to Germany, really?

So there are a lot of answers to the question why are we moving - but if I have to pick the top reason it is to make good on a deal that Olof and I made when we got married, or even before that, that we would spend 5 years in each person's country of origin. But Olof is not German, so how does that work? Well, it is close enough, sort of. At least it is Europe, and that counts for a lot, which means that we are only a 2 hour flight to Sweden, ie to his parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, etc. That is a whole lot better than the 24 hours and lots of cash it takes from Davis.

Over the years Olof has looked for jobs that would bring us to Sweden, or in the general vicinity, and over the years, I have said, uh no, not yet. Or, no way, not Austria, or Vienna, or Paris. I could always find a reason not to go. Or rather, to stay in my beloved cocoon of Davis. But in November last year, when Olof said, what about Bonn, Germany, I said sure. It was such a long shot, a job at the United Nations, and so far in the future, that I did not really think that it would or could happen. So he submitted an application and off we went to Hawaii to celebrate his 40th birthday and did not think much more about it. Then sometime in December he received an email with an interview date, that’s it, just a date, for an hour long interview for a job in Bonn, in Germany. One hour. Ok. So go, it was funny, and flattering for him, still seemed like a long shot and still seemed like far in the future. The interview was in January and we decided not to say anything to friends or family, because, like I said, it was a long shot. Well, in March, Olof decided to call about the job, and the answer he got was, “well actually we were planning on offering it to you, can you start in April?” WHAT?! No, yes, no, kids, family, school, job…yes, ok, how about July 5th. I could not miss my sisters 50th birthday celebration at the end of June and the kids did not want to miss July 4th celebrations on Cypress lane, so July 5th it is. And Olof will start his new job on July 7th. We will keep you posted when we arrive!

For now we are eternally grateful for our friends and family and their support for this, even though it is sad to know we are going to be away for 18 months or more (not much more, I have promised everyone, but we may want to stay until the kids finish the school year, that’s all). And until we go on the 5th of July, we are living as nomads in the beautiful home of our oh so generous friends Lesley and Ari, and we are borrowing a car from our dear friends Holly and Charlie, while our sweet Ophilia the cat is in the loving home of Margaret and Joe. Thank you everyone for taking such good care of us.

Thank you everyone.

Moving Day

June 18th the movers arrived just as the coffee was brewing. No time to back out of this now, the packers are here and about to put our precious junk into storage for 18months.

It took less than 3 hours for 4 guys from Chipman storage to pack our goods, and then they were gone, off to wooden crates for the duration. I seriously thought that we were going to be "done" at that point, but the house was still full. Every item we own has taken on new light when we ask the question over and over, "store, send to Germany, give away?" until it became "store, send, throw". The kids have been amazing through this and have also sorted every last item they own. Now we were ready for the international movers to come.

June 19, it happened to be my birthday, so after some delicious German chocolate cake in bed and a new ipod touch (yipee) we were back to the house. At least Louise got to go off to camp, but poor Noah, with his broken arm, was stuck with us. By 9:30the new set of movers arrived and set to work. This time the packing took a bit more time, since everything had to wrapped in brown paper and packed for the 6-8 weeks on the boat. Around 2 in the afternoon, the shipping container arrived, the actual container that would hold our beloved goods across the water from Davis to Bonn. Once the movers had wrapped everything, it was time to puzzle it into the van. Man were they good, and in the end, everything was packed so tight there was no room for even a cockroach to pass through.

And our day ended, with the cleaning crew arriving as the movers were leaving and the kids not quite falling apart. By dinner time, no one wanted to go out for a birthday dinner, so we scrounged at home and had hunkered down for the night.